Chelsea injury news: Nkunku’s distant return date
Chelsea have received some troubling and potentially damaging injury update. Forward Christopher Nkunku now has a fairly distant return date.
Bad news. We were all looking forward to seeing how the highly rated Nkunku would acclimatise to the Premier League. He performed so well during the preseason schedule. Therefore anticipation of his English top-flight debut was reaching quite high levels among Blues support. However, whilst playing in the friendly versus Borussia Dortmund recently, the Frenchman apparently ‘damaged the meniscus in his knee’.
I feel that Nkunku was not only set to start but will have been an integral part of CFC head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s new system. I am sure the second striker will get his eventual chance to be pivotal at some stage. Although, unfortunately he won’t feature for a while as he has reportedly been ruled out until December.
Are there any surprises now that the new Chelsea shirt numbers have been?
First of all, if you are wondering, Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi have not been given squad numbers for the coming season. This revelation has fuelled the already burning speculation that the three will leave Stamford Bridge this summer. Lukaku may well be involved in a swap deal which eventually sees Dusan Vlahovic come to Fulham Road.
Meanwhile Ziyech is thought to wish for a move away from the Blues after an uneven spell at the club. A potential switch to Saudi Arabia – like some of his former teammates such as N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly – was mentioned. Ajax are also reportedly monitoring the Morocco international. Fulham and Lazio are supposedly tracking Hudson-Odoi.
The list of numbers is below. One unsurprising aspect was the omission of a No.9; some Chelsea followers consider the digit to be cursed.
Next. Chelsea in talks to sign international midfielder and want another. dark
"1 – Kepa Arrizabalaga 2 – Axel Disasi 3 – Marc Cucurella 5 – Benoit Badiashile 6 – Thiago Silva 7 – Raheem Sterling 8 – Enzo Fernandez 10 – Mykhailo Mudryk 11 – Noni Madueke 13 – Marcus Bettinelli 14 – Trevoh Chalobah 15 – Nicolas Jackson 16 – Lesley Ugochukwu 17 – Carney Chukwuemeka 18 – Christopher Nkunku 19 – Armando Broja 20 – Andrey Santos 21 – Ben Chilwell 23 – Conor Gallagher 24 – Reece James 26 – Levi Colwill 27 – Malo Gusto 29 – Ian Maatsen 31 – Robert Sanchez 33 – Wesley Fofana 37 – Mason Burstow 47 – Lucas Bergstrom 50 – Eddie Beach 67 – Lewis HallVia Evening Standard"